This Week’s Reading Recommendations for Marvel
This week I read through 5 comics published by Marvel Comics, 3 that were purchased from Comixology and were just released and 2 issues that were on Marvel Unlimited.
I guess I was pretty lucky this week too since all 5 issues rank at least a Read.
Must Reads
These are the Marvel comics I read through this week that were so good I feel they’re Must Reads. If you’re only gonna read a few issues from Marvel, I’d recommend you take a look at these.
Two of these – Immortal Hulk and Avengers: No Road Home – are both available on Marvel Unlimited so that subscription is worth your $$$ with these types of issues.
The other, Powers of X, is something I’ve been purchasing because I’ve wanted to keep up on the current state of the X-Men and their world…and it’s certainly been worth it.
- Immortal Hulk #14
by Al Ewing and Kyle Hotz.
This is a pretty emotional and impactful issue as we are reintroduced to Betty Ross as she deals with the death of her father and the reality that her husband, who she thought was gone, is still alive. The story is great, as expected from Al Ewing in this series, and the art by guest artist Kyle Hotz is perfect for the powerful scenes of loss, joy, anger, and hulkiness. The colors by Paul Mounts are dramatic and drive the story, and I’m happy to fully recommend this as a Must Read. - Avengers: No Road Home #6
by Al Ewing, Jim Zub, Mark Waid, and Sean Izaakse.
This issue takes a dramatic turn into another world and I think it pulls it off well. As Scarlet Witch escaped from Nyx in the last episode we weren’t sure where she went but in this issue we’re made abundantly aware that she has jumped into the wonderful world of Conan the Barbarian. This issue is more of a buddy tale as Conan takes care of the blind witch and I’m impressed how much I enjoyed the Hyborian Age. As expected, Conan’s sword and Wanda’s sorcery play significant roles as they’ve got to get the soul shard back from thieves who stole it early on in the issue. I loved the Conan portion of the story so much I started (as I’m sure Marvel hoped) to look up where I can find more Conan stories to read so it’s sufficient to say I found this issue a Must Read installment of the No Road Home event. - Powers of X #5
by Jonathan Hickman and R.B. Silva.
Published by Marvel Comics.
I’m certain that after all the dust settles on Powers of X and House of X I will have to re-read these two series multiple times to pull all the details out of these issues but I have to say that I’m really enjoying Jonathan Hickman’s redefining of the world of the X-Men. If you’ve ever had any interest in the mutants, enjoyed any of the movies, or watched the cartoons from way-back-when, you will find these two series worth your time. In this penultimate Powers issue, Xavier and Magneto work to put their plans into place and recruit an interesting set of mutants to sit on their council. With the looks into the future of year 1000 and the societal descriptions it looks as though their best laid plans work out to some degree but might run into some trouble in the long run. I’m looking forward to seeing where this series goes and what the resultant X-World looks like. I give this a Must Read like most of the Powers series – I wouldn’t want to see what comes next without having at least a little understanding from these issues.
Definitive Reads
These issues are interesting and enjoyable but they’re just not as important, critical, or exciting as those above. They definitely are not skippable unless you really don’t have the time to read many comics. If anything, I’d suggest you read these once they show up on Marvel Unlimited since they are definitely worth the subscription price.
Both these issues are gonna take 6 months to make it onto Marvel Unlimited but they were both worth picking up once they get there. In reality, I enjoyed these issues enough that I am fine with paying the cover price even though I don’t consider them Must Reads.
- New Mutants: War children #1
by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz.
I’ll start out by saying that I’ve never read any of Chris Claremont’s X-Men but after this issue I can see the potential in his storytelling. (The interesting part in my comic experience is that I’m heading into 1975 in my reading of Marvel Essentials and I’ll get to have a first hand encounter with how Claremont built up this team. It’s just weird reading something over 40 years after his first run with the X-Men before I actually read the stories he’s well known for.) Bill Sienkiewicz’ art is also something to be savored and I find myself looking forward to the past so I can read these characters early adventures for the first time. And that’s really it…these are very distinct characters with relationships and interactions that flow off the page as easily as if I’d been reading them for years. While the story is a bit complex and the beautiful art can get pretty intricate I feel that I could easily follow along and I find myself wanting more. I rate this a fully enjoyable Read. - Spider-Man #1
by Henry Abrams, JJ Abrams, and Sara Pichelli.
JJ Abrams and his son Henry were given a shot at writing a story for the web crawler and after the first issue, I have to say I’m interested to see where this goes. This is definitely not your father’s Spider-Man and it’s made fairly apparent that this story falls outside the standard continuity but that let’s the Abrams go interesting places and to explore some new ground with Peter. And that’s kinda a big part of the story…it’s looking like this series is gonna be more about Peter and MJ’s son than it is about one of the ‘normal’ Spider-Men. Regardless of where this story ends up going, I found this first installment compelling and would definitely recommend giving it a Read.
Skip These
These are comics I really didn’t feel were worth the money spent. For whatever reason I just did not enjoy these issues.
Fortunately, I did not have any issues that made this list this week though it may have been because I only read through 5 issues.
Comic Corner | This Week’s Reading Recommendations for Marvel: 10/3/2019